“More than anything, just a former Southwest Conference opponent is the big buildup here,” said Kingsbury, the Tech coach who has arranged for his team to wear throwback jerseys from that 1991 season in Saturday's game against the Razorbacks.

His team appears to be facing a huge challenge — both literally and figuratively — when the ground-heavy Razorbacks visit.

Arkansas rushed for 495 yards on an SEC single-game record 12.4 yards per carry in its 73-7 beatdown of Nicholls State last week. It was the most points scored in the modern era of the Arkansas program.

Even though the numbers might not show it, senior linebacker Kenny Williams said Tech's defense is improving after the UTEP game.

“I do feel like we played better,” Williams said. “It all came down to stopping the run. They ran the ball all game, and we're going to have to get better against Arkansas.”

The struggles against the run aren't Tech's only concerns entering the game. After ranking 122nd in penalty yards last season, limiting mental mistakes was a huge priority.

But the Red Raiders appear to have reverted to their old ways. Tech is ranked 123rd among the 124 FBS teams after committing 25 penalties in its first two games, ranking 120th in penalty yardage per game.

After being flagged 15 times in the opener, Tech was penalized 10 times against UTEP. Two of the penalties were particularly baffling — the Raiders were whistled on back-to-back plays for sideline interference and having two players with the same uniform number playing at the same time.

“It was a big emphasis,” Kingsbury said. “If we can cut that number in half again, you're right where you want to be. But if we want to win these games coming up, we have to cut that number down significantly.”

Tech's potent offensive attack showed signs last week in the comeback victory at UTEP. But limiting penalties and containing the Razorbacks' run-heavy attack will be crucial Saturday.

“To play as bad as we have at times and have all the mistakes and penalties and still be 2-0, we'll build off that,” Kingsbury said. “It's got to go up from here.”